


Physical

by thorbiased



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kid! Thor, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), thorkyrie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 03:37:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15525192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thorbiased/pseuds/thorbiased
Summary: “I’m getting to that,” she said with a little laugh. “She told me to write down everything I could remember about the person I lost. Everything. The color of their eyes, things they said a lot. She said it made them...here again. Physical.”Val helps Thor deal with everything.





	Physical

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting my work, so comments are appreciated!

_“Come on, little one," Heimdall said, his gold eyes full of warmth and love, leaning down to lift a young Thor into his arms. The prince grinned and reached out for Heimdall's helmet. "Would you like to hear a story, my boy?"_

_Thor nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Heimdall."_

_Heimdall's smile reached his eyes as he carried Thor over to the edge of the bifrost chamber, where he could look over the galaxy. Thor absentmindedly held his hand out to brush his fingers against the stars. Heimdall paused, thinking of a story to tell the prince._

_"Have you heard the tale of the Valkyries...?"_

Thor took a swig of his flask, tears burning at his eyes, as the memory faded. It had been a month since he'd lost Heimdall, along with his brother and the majority of his people. He couldn't count the number of people that had told him that "time would heal" his wounds. They were wrong.

He missed Heimdall so much. He missed his kind smiles, his warm presence. The memory of Thanos sliding his staff into Heimdall's chest, snuffing the light out of one of the best people Thor had ever known, clung to him. It lingered in the back of his mind, dragging him deeper into grief. He didn't know how much more of this he could take.

Thor buried his face into his palms and groaned. He was miserable, absolutely miserable, and not a thing had been able to soothe his aching heart. The mead had little effect, training did nothing. So he'd turned to coming to the roof of the facility, climbing to the highest point he could get to, and watching the sunset.

Thor swung his legs against the sun-heated metal of the Avengers logo on the side of the building. Deep in his heart, he knew that Heimdall nor Loki would want this. And he knew they must have been watching from Valhalla, perhaps they even pitied him. He couldn't find it in him to care, though.

He leaned his head back towards the sky. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked them, "I'm in danger of going mad."

His heart was broken. That was the simplest way to put it. His heart had been breaking, ever since he'd come in just a second too late to save his mother, his heart had been breaking. And now, it was shattered, destroyed, obliterated like his hammer. He didn't know if he could recover. What reason did he have to go on? Thanos had won, the universe had descended into chaos, and he. Had. Nothing. Left.

His conversation with Rocket came back to him.

_"So, dead brother, huh? That can be annoying," the rabbit said, fiddling with controls on the pod and coming to stand next to Thor at the window._

_Thor glanced down. The image Loki's grey, lifeless, body flooded his mind. "He's been dead before. This time...I think it might be true."_

_"And you mentioned your dad and your sister...?"_

_Thor shook his head. He saw his father dissolve into nothing more than stardust. He watched his home planet explode. "Both dead."_

_"But still got a mom, though?"_

_Frigga lied on the ground, a pool of blood staining the floor._

_"Killed by a dark elf."_

_"A best friend...?"_

_Heimdall defiantly stared down the mad titan before Thanos murdered him._

_"Stabbed through the heart."_

The pain of loosing them all threatened to crush Thor under its weight. He knocked back the last swallow of alcohol in his flask and sat it down on the roof beside him.

Sunlight broke through the trees, casting strange shadows on the building and on Thor. He squinted his eyes against the amber glow. He threw his legs over the side of the building and hopped down onto the roof. He staggered, but caught himself. What kind of a king was he? Drunk and wallowing in sorrow. Really, anyone would be a better king than him. He'd quite literally caused the apocalypse. Twice.

With a sigh, he decided it’d be better if he stayed on the roof. Better that than face the looks of pity from his teammates, and he certainly couldn’t head back to the few survivors of Asgard in this state. So, he climbed back to his perch and hung his head.

Footsteps approached from behind him, but Thor didn't have the heart to turn and face his guest. Whoever it was hopped up beside him, and he finally looked at them.

"I'm glad I found you," Brunnhilde said, nodding towards his empty flask of alcohol. "You're hogging all the booze."

Thor smiled weakly and hung his head. "I apologize for that," he said. His voice was hoarse from crying. He cleared his throat.

"Are you okay?" Brunnhilde asked softly.

Thor gave a shuddering sigh as he nearly broke down again. He shook his head. "No," he whispered, staring down at the ground.

The valkyrie sighed and grabbed his hand. "I'm not good at comfort," she admitted, "but do you want to talk about it?"

Thor knew that it would probably be best to talk to her, or anyone, for that matter, but he couldn't find the words to voice what he'd been going through. So he shook his head. Brunnhilde squeezed his hand and rubbed her thumb across the back of it. Thor took a deep breath.

"Please talk to me, Thor," she said gently. "You've been like this for weeks."

Thor laid his head on her shoulder. He wondered if she minded; if she did, she didn't say it. He took a breath. "I...my heart aches," he said finally, "That's the only way to put it, I suppose. I miss them."

Valkyrie nodded, encouraging him to go on.

"I remember little things, things I wouldn't normally, I guess, if they were still here. I remember Heimdall telling me stories about the Valkyries," he said, bumping her hip lightly, "I remember Loki and me playing." His voice broke, and a tear slid down his cheek. He took another deep breath, forcing himself to let it all out. He needed to. "I miss them, so much."

"I know," she murmured. “But they wouldn’t want you to be in pain like this.”

“I know that,” Thor said tiredly. He ran his fingers over his hair. “I just don’t know what to do. I have good days. Or better days. But then I have days like today, and it’s horrible.”

Brunnhilde nodded. “When...when I lost my sisters, I spent weeks wallowing in it. I found alcohol to get out of it. You need to find something else.”

“What would you suggest I do? I’ve tried to throw myself into training, but that doesn’t help.”

Brunnhilde tilted her head. “I have an idea,” she said, before throwing her legs back over the side of the building and running towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Thor shouted after her, slowly moving his legs back to face her.

“You’ll see. Just stay here.”

And so Thor waited for her to return, wondering all the while what she thought could possibly help him. When she returned, she was holding a notebook and a pen in her hands. She held them up and smiled.

“When I was in Sakaar,” she said, crossing the roof and standing behind Thor. She handed him the notebook and pencil. “I encountered all sorts of people.” She climbed up beside him. “And they were all desperate.”

Thor titled his head and watched her. There was regret in her eyes. He knew she was better than the woman who enslaved so many people on Sakaar, but he often wondered if she did.

Brunnhilde gave a shuddering sigh. “There was this woman. She claimed she knew what was wrong with me.”

“Did she?”

“She did.” Brunnhilde fiddled with the tip of her braid. “Anyway, she told me something to do to help. She just wanted me to free her, I guess. I never tried what she told me, but I never forgot. Which is why I got these.”

Thor looked down at the notebook in his hand and opened it up. It was blank inside. “What did...”

“I’m getting to that,” she said with a little laugh. “She told me to write down everything I could remember about the person I lost. Everything. The color of their eyes, things they said a lot. She said it made them...here again. Physical.”

Thor looked down at the pencil. “Thank you, Brunnhilde,” he said, “I think that will help.”

His words were wobbly at first. He wrote them with shaky fingers. At the top of the first page he wrote down Loki’s name, and then he listed every little thing he could think of. The name of his horse, his favorite book, the way his eyes often betrayed what he was feeling no matter how stoic he tried to be. The page bled with ink as Thor furiously scribbled on the paper. He flipped the page and started Heimdall’s. And then Odin’s and Frigga’s, and Hogun’s and Volstagg’s and Fandral’s.

Thor might have been crying when he finished, but he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his chest. He closed the book with a trembling hand.

“Thank you,” he said, looking at Brunnhilde through tears. She had sat there patiently watching him the entire time, her hand on his knee.

“You’re going to be okay,” she told him, her eyes firm.

Thor sucked in a deep breath and looked back at the sky. The sun had set, and stars were starting to dot the sky. He knew she was right. He was going to be okay.

So he nodded.


End file.
